Poll: Obama Takes Lead In IowaBy Greg Sargent - November 19, 2007, 5:13PMThe new Washington Post/ABC News poll that Dems have been talking about today has finally been released -- and it finds that Obama has edged into a lead over Hillary in Iowa, though the race remains close.

Obama has 30% of likely voters, while Hillary has 26% and Edwards has 22%.

The poll shows that Obama has marginally increased his standing since WaPo's last Iowa poll in August, which found Obama at 27%, with Hillary and Edwards at 26%.

But various findings in today's poll suggest that rival criticism of Hillary might be working. Obama is ahead of her by 2-1 as the most honest and trustworthy candidate. And 55% say that "new ideas" is more important to them in a candidate, while 33% pick "strength and experience." Obama has argued that he's the race's true change agent, while Hillary counters that only she has the strength and experience to realize real change.

Key fact: Obama is running even with Hillary among Iowa women, 32%-31%.

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If you prick us, do we not bleed? if you tickle us, do we not laugh? if you poison us, do we not die? and if you wrong us, shall we not revenge? m.of v. w.shaka speare

Um.....President Bush just said "they need to realize their aspirations IS key to them moving forward blah blahblah......seriously, is it 2008 yet? At least no matter which party wins, they'll have a grasp on the english language.

Um.....President Bush just said "they need to realize their aspirations IS key to them moving forward blah blahblah......seriously, is it 2008 yet? At least no matter which party wins, they'll have a grasp on the english language.

that really burns you doesn't it.

it is funnier than a president who gets b.j's. in the oval office...and then gets caught.

hey, get over it...bush served his purpose, now...so you SHOULD concentrate on 08...aye thought most democrats have been doing that for a few years.

hell...al queda will be glad to see bush gone as well...and that is a fact.

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If you prick us, do we not bleed? if you tickle us, do we not laugh? if you poison us, do we not die? and if you wrong us, shall we not revenge? m.of v. w.shaka speare

Hillary Clinton has moved into attack mode against her main rival Barack Obama after a poll put him ahead in Iowa, where the first caucus to decide the Democratic Party's presidential nominee is held in less than a month.

Full coverage: US election 2008Speaking on the campaign trail in the Midwestern state, the former First Lady said "Now the fun part starts," before launching into a character assassination of Mr Obama, a first-term senator from Illinois.

Both Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama have been resorting to personal attacks

"How did running for president become a qualification to be president?" she demanded. "This is not a job you can learn about from a book."

Mrs Clinton sneered at Mr Obama for dodging difficult votes on abortion and gun control when he was a state senator and mocked him for a lack of experience and over-reaching ambition.

"So you decide which makes more sense: entrust our country to someone who is ready on day one … or to put America in the hands of someone with little national or international experience, who started running for president the day he arrived in the US Senate," she told an audience in Clear Lake, Iowa.

The 46-year-old senator has previously suggested that Mrs Clinton feels she has a right to the presidency after eight years as First Lady and six as senator for New York, and claimed he only decided to run for the White House relatively recently.

The row between the two rivals reached its low point when the Clinton campaign issued a press release quoting an essay written by Mr Obama at the age of six at nursery school in Indonesia, entitled "I want to become president".

Phil Singer, a Clinton spokesman, said the essay proved his words were hollow. "Senator Obama's relatives and friends say he has been talking about running for president for at least the last 15 years. So who's not telling the truth, them or him?" he said.

With the battle for the 2008 nomination sliding towards open warfare, Mr Obama's campaign set up a website on Monday, Hillary Attacks, chronicling "baseless attacks" on his record and character and appealing for donations to strengthen the campaign. Mrs Clinton's advisers maintain that they are merely responding to weeks of personal criticism by Mr Obama and John Edwards, the third-placed contender, who have portrayed her as a dissembler and a centrist who not only voted for the Iraq war but refuses to apologise for doing so.

The former First Lady still tops national polls, but has seen a seven-point lead in Iowa eroded over the past two months.

Much of her appeal to voters has been the aura of "inevitability" around her well-disciplined campaign, which has been engendered by her experience, command of the issues and eloquence.

But many pundits think her lack of personal rapport with voters means her support is much wider than it is deep.

If that starts to slip, then an Obama win in Iowa could give him the momentum for victory in New Hampshire and other states that vote soon afterwards.

advertisementAlthough Mr Obama's three-point lead in Iowa is below the margin of error, he is seen as the candidate with the momentum behind him, prompting Mrs Clinton to change course.

• George W Bush has said that he misses being on the campaign trail for the presidency apart from the respiratory infection he said he caught from a reporter covering his 2000 campaign.

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If you prick us, do we not bleed? if you tickle us, do we not laugh? if you poison us, do we not die? and if you wrong us, shall we not revenge? m.of v. w.shaka speare